Can You Get a Baby Back After Adoption?

Wondering if it’s possible to get a baby back after adoption? Legacy has the answer

It’s a common question from both expectant parents and waiting families. Can a birth mother get a baby back after adoption? In the late stages of pregnancy, many women considering adoption begin to wonder, what if I change my mind? What if my circumstances change and I can provide for this baby?

Waiting families have concerns as well. They worry that their adoption will not be permanent and that they will lose their baby after falling in love with them.

Legacy believes the first step to answering these questions is through information. Below is our explanation of Texas adoption law.

Can you get a baby back after adoption in Texas?

Getting a baby back after adoption would be a highly irregular occurrence under Texas adoption law. However, an expectant mother does have the following rights.

She can decide to parent her child at any point during her pregnancy or labor.

She can revoke waiving her parental consent up to 10 days after the birth of the child.

After delivery, the child’s mother must wait 48 hours before signing parental rights over to the adoptive family. This gives the postpartum mother time to heal, grieve and make a sound decision.

In Texas, there is a 10-day revocation period after waiving parental rights. For the birth mother, this means it is possible to get a baby back after adoption while it remains unofficial. If she changes her mind within those 10 days and signs a revocation order, the child returns to her.

It is important to note that if a mother and/or baby tests positive for illegal substances after childbirth, the hospital must call Child Protective Services. This may lead to involuntary termination of parental rights, which means the revocation period does not take effect.

What about the father?

If an expectant couple is married, one part of the couple cannot make much legal headway without the other. Neither can get a baby back after adoption without the consent of the other.

If the expectant parents are unmarried, the biological father has no legal claim to the child. He can only gain custody by establishing paternity in court well before the child’s adoption is finalized. It would be unusual for such a situation to occur without Legacy’s knowledge.

Can you get a baby back after adoption is finalized?

The revocation window when the biological mother can get the baby back after adoption closes on the eleventh day after the child’s birth. At this point, the adoptive parents become the child’s sole legal guardians. The birth parents cannot lay claim to the child any longer.

In Texas, it takes six months for an adoption to be finalized. At a finalization hearing, the judge grants the adoptive couple all the same “parental rights and responsibilities as if the child had been born to them.” The baby is given a new social security number and takes his or her parents’ last name. It is next to impossible to get a baby back after adoption finalization.

Learn more about whether it’s possible to get a baby back after adoption

Our Texas adoption experts work closely with each of our expectant parents to make sure they are committed to an adoption plan before taking steps forward with a waiting family. Grieving the loss of raising their child is a normal and necessary part of the adoption process. We are here to answer expectant parents’ questions, provide wise counsel and offer loving support.

Worrying that it is possible for parents to get a baby back after adoption is also a common fear for our waiting families. They have often endured years of infertility and cannot imagine another loss ahead of them. We counsel adoptive couples to remain open minded, trust in the process and take faith that their child will come to them in the best way possible.

Contact us at (817) 784-7579 if you are wondering if you can get a baby back after adoption.